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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580514">Breaking in the Leather</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/avadescent/pseuds/avadescent'>avadescent</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, apologies to all the fathers in the world whose reputations levi will undoubtedly soil, levi and petra (lowkey) adopt eren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:08:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,219</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26580514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/avadescent/pseuds/avadescent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The custody battle is underway. Her grip on him tightens. “Please, captain. Do <i>something.</i>”</p><p>Or: Rivetra Parents AU (by virtue of adopting one scruffy, shitty little Titan brat named Eren Yeager).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi &amp; Eren Yeager &amp; Petra Ral, Levi/Petra Ral</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. custody battle.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i>(military divorce is no match for levi &amp; petra)</i>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>She’s not exactly caught up on all the details, but news travels fast, and more often than not the captain will know more than what she’s already heard, so it’s only a matter of waiting. She’s fresh from the command centre—his last orders had been to deliver a report on the latest expedition—and she has her suspicions that these rumours must be truer than they sound because she hadn’t hand-delivered the reports to either Section Commander Zoë or Commander Erwin himself, so it means that they’re off somewhere they normally wouldn’t be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She passes by bandaged soldiers and battered corpses, past the medical wing and the mess hall, down the barracks and straight through until she’s nestled within the rooms allocated for the special operations squad. Oluo looks busy scrubbing at the floor (for brownie points, even though there’s no such thing in Levi’s vocabulary), and when she walks past him she finds Eld and Gunther conversing lowly over a poorly brewed pot of tea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me,” she says, when she notices Eld spoon in more tea leaves than necessary. He glances down at her with a grateful, though weary smile, and as she fishes out the excess she remarks, “Where’s the captain?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In the dungeons,” Gunther informs with a bit of a snort. She knows amusement when she sees it. She also knows distrust. “I’m sure you’ve heard about—that Titan boy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He hasn’t done anything yet,” is Petra’s optimistic contribution, and Eld rolls his eyes at her. “He’s still just a </span>
  <em>
    <span>boy, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Only you would take notice of that, Pet,” Eld says, but it lacks mockery. “Still, he’s in the dungeons for a reason, and Weilman’s still weil-ing about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smothers a laugh. “That wasn’t funny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Oluo contributes, raising his head from the floor, “Soldiers shouldn’t be making stupid jokes like th—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all look away when he bites his tongue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Petra pours herself a cup of tea, her brow furrowed pensively. There’s worry tucked away in her pout, though she’s not exactly sure what she’s anxious about. If anything strange has ever happened in the military, it was because Hange was doing something absurd again; this time, however, Hange is nowhere </span>
  <em>
    <span>near </span>
  </em>
  <span>the cause of concern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And strange things, whether Hange is involved or not, are always worrisome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They must be deciding what to do with him,” Petra thinks aloud, and her companions nod in agreement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain Levi might just kill him where he stands for all we know,” Oluo grumbles, rising from the polished floor and putting away the rags. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think so,” Petra answers, grinning slightly. “Hange wouldn’t let him. Besides, he’s learned from what happened last time. A Titan boy sounds like another step for humanity.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I would hope so,” Gunther replies, looking out the window towards the setting sun. “Everyone needs a little bit of hope right now, especially since the Colossal Titan showed up again. We need to be prepared for anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Petra nods affirmatively. “Right. Captain Levi might give us more information when he returns, so we should just wait for orders.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“While waiting, then,” Eld says, clapping her on the shoulder and steering her out in the direction of the mess hall, Oluo and Gunther close behind, “We should get some dinner.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Levi startlingly doesn’t look pissed off by the time she figures it’s safe enough to enter his office with the regular ten o’clock cup of tea. He’s scratching away at some document with his quill, and when she’s closer she notes that it’s only a blank piece of parchment—nothing official, so it’s not a report at least. She almost sighs with relief: that means he didn’t kill anyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Petra,” he says, his standard reply. He doesn’t glance up from the parchment; she wonders what he’s drafting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re welcome,” she says, another standard reply, and she punctuates the sentiment by tucking her hair behind her ears with a pleasant smile. She lingers until he glances at her side-ways, the only cue she needs to barrel forward. “Excuse me for asking, sir. I was just wondering what happened with the Titan boy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grunts in acknowledgment, and then he’s gesturing down at what he’s been writing. “I’m in charge of that piece of crap now. Said he wants to join the Survey Corps.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She furrows her brows. He doesn’t look as though he’s working on the application form (an “application” form would just be the boy’s profile stamped with the Survey Corps’ logo and tainted with Levi’s signature, anyway); instead, he looks almost as though he’s writing a script, bullet points comprised of his spider scrawl crushed out in places across the page, the words ‘just kick him’ distinct to her in the candlelight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s awfully violent,” she comments, frowning. “He’s just a boy, isn’t he? What’s this for, anyway?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t look at her when she asks; he simply stares straight ahead, and she’d mistake the look on his face for harsh indifference if she hadn’t come to realize it as his way of filtering his words. (Sometimes when his tongue was loose he’d say “shitty” instead of “derogatory” and she’s cackled with Hange at all the stories of his early days, when reports were apparently a foreign concept and he didn’t seem to understand that ‘crappy-eyed piece of scum’ was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>a suitable replacement for ‘Titan’.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Erwin wants a transcript of our planned proposal for documentation purposes,” he answers, after a stretched beat. “Top brass might need it for the upcoming trial, where they’ll decide if he’s better off with us or with the assholes who call themselves the military police.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That or he’s just making sure you’re going to restrain yourself,” Petra says, smirking slightly. “I don’t think the Commander intends to let you get away with </span>
  <em>
    <span>kicking </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. Really, captain, show a little mercy every now and then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He turns into a fucking Titan, Petra, you wouldn’t ask me to show a Titan mercy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s also a </span>
  <em>
    <span>boy,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she stresses, sounding absolutely displeased that she’s had to emphasize this fact for all the men around her. They were all idiots, she was sure. She bristles when she catches Levi looking at her like </span>
  <em>
    <span>she’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>the idiot. “So he’s an enemy to humankind as a Titan, I get that. But if what I’ve heard is true then he’s also just a kid and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>helped </span>
  </em>
  <span>us gain victory over Trost. I’m not going to judge that boy over a single fact, and neither should you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stares at her for a long moment, and when her breath evens out from her little tirade she feels her cheeks burn at the temperature of the candlelight when she fully realizes the intensity with which he’s regarding her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a real piece of work, Ral,” he finally says, picking the teacup from its plate and sipping lightly on it, looking thoroughly amused. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is that supposed to mean?” she huffs indignantly, and she thinks he might be smiling but he’s only drinking tea. “I didn’t judge you over a singular fact, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t give her a reply, but she can tell from the way his pen is hovering over the ‘kick him’ bullet that she’s had some sway over the matter. Feeling rather triumphant, she presses on, “I’d like to come witness the trial, sir.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do what you want,” he waves her off. “It’s curfew, Petra, go to sleep.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d better not kick him, sir,” she says, turning to make her leave. “It’s a custody battle, isn’t it? You don’t win custody battles by being abusive.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He snorts. “Wait until you see the shitty brat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I will,” she sniffs, raising her head, and she shuts the door behind her feeling cheerful. The coming days will prove quite interesting, it seems.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eren Yeager, she comes to find, is unfairly chained against his will like a dog whose owners had no care for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She scowls at the sight, because she knows first-hand the military’s capability for cruelty, but he looks so devastatingly young and his countenance is so heart-wrenchingly earnest that she cannot help but feel this monster they’ve all claimed him to be must truly just be a rumor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is him?” she murmurs under her breath, and she doesn’t expect anyone to hear her, doesn’t expect an answer, but she catches Levi turning his head to regard her silently so she straightens before he can tell her there’s nothing she can do about the situation now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d just asked to come witness, after all: the only people who can turn the tides of this custody battle are Commander Erwin and Captain Levi, the latter of whom she has utmost faith in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She purses her mouth shut and keeps still for the most of it, which she hopes will please her captain just enough, because when the situation takes a turn and those pigs (a term borrowed from Levi, who else) from Wall Sina and the Garrison start insinuating they dissect a perfectly innocent girl of Yeager’s age alongside him, she feels her heart burn with the urge to take necessary action.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That scowl from earlier bares on her countenance in full-force, and against better judgement she reaches out to tug on Levi’s sleeve as the boy—Eren—pleads for that girl to be left out of things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do something,” she hisses, her maternal kindness blazing brightly behind her amber eyes, and she’s never asked the captain anything out of bounds before, so she hardens her resolve and glares at him with all the fire she can muster. “They’re out of line, and we’re losing. You hate those things, don’t you?” Her grip on him tightens. “Please, captain. Do </span>
  <em>
    <span>something.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He scoffs, and some sort of synergy courses through them, his own variant of understanding clear in his eyes when he looks back at her. His hand gently pries hers off, and then he’s lifting a leg over the railing. “You didn’t have to ask.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You kicked him in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>face,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Levi!” she yells, later, when the brat’s still undergoing due process for what was, in Levi’s opinion, well-earned custody.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where else was I supposed to kick him?” he answers, dry and gelid and sounding more serious than he was. “The balls?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. rules of custody.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You’re to monitor him daily and ensure that he’s keeping busy,” Commander Erwin informs Levi as they exit the court at the end of the trial. Petra remains two feet behind them, which means she can pick up their conversation faintly; a sign that this order is extended toward her as well, as a soldier under Levi’s command. She straightens at the prospect—monitoring the boy and making sure he isn’t slacking off will be no problem at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Commander doesn’t seem to think so, however, because he takes a brief moment to look Levi in the eye. It’s a curt glance, not at all noticeable, but Petra has been around long enough to pick up on a variety of subtle cues between the two.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feed him twice a day, too,” he finally adds, and Petra nearly bursts into laughter, “I know you forget to feed soldiers who aren’t under your direct command.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What am I?” Levi mutters, annoyed. “A baby-sitter?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For the time-being it is included in your job description, yes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi’s brow contorts into a bridge of raging dissatisfaction. “I didn’t sign him up to be pampered like a brat, Erwin. He’s part of the Survey Corps, now, if we baby him he might as well be Titan fodder.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s staying in the basement,” Erwin says, which seems to quell a bit of rage. Petra reflects that a basement is practically synonymous to a cage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi nods apathetically. “Sounds good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Petra halts in her stride, aghast, and she is left behind by a foot when Levi pauses to cast her a sideways glance, his thinly veiled concern palpable only when he says, “Ral.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll leave you both to discuss the boy’s living conditions further then,” Erwin says, continuing forward. “Add as many rules as you like—just make sure the basic ones are met. We’ll reconvene at a later date with the others to discuss the plans for the scouting mission.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” Levi drawls, turning to look at Erwin once more before facing Petra fully. “Spit it out, we don’t have all day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I be glad we’re not leaving him in the stables?” she grumbles pithily once Commander Erwin has slithered away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Levi tenses for a moment, and there’s the miniscule crease to his brow that clues her in to his confusion. It is only momentary, and his face is once again impassive after a beat. “He could transform and run away at any time if we leave him in the stables, so yes, you should be glad that no one in this room is that stupid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She lets out a lengthy sigh. “That’s not what I meant.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His silence is her only cue to continue. “Don’t you think it’s a little too much? He’s a kid, not a—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve heard this spiel before, Petra, and it’s useless.” The use of her given name causes her to still. He turns away from her and continues down the hallway. “That kid’s a monster, you just haven’t seen it yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She frowns, opting to argue, but experience has taught her that Levi’s judgement is terrifyingly accurate, so she hurries after him and doesn’t dwell on the matter any further.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This will only hurt a little,” Petra says, and across the room Levi scoffs because she only says that every time it’s going to hurt a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She has to give Eren points for only managing a squeak when she presses a mixture of hot water and alcohol over his bruised skin, his eyes squeezing shut. She wipes the scrapes on his face, though they are less noticeable now, and she frowns in puzzlement at the observation because she knows Levi’s kicks could hurt much worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At least you didn’t lose a tooth, right?” she remarks good-humouredly in an attempt to make small talk. He looks quite fidgety and out of place, like a squirrel that’s been brought in from the wild. He seems to lose a bit of fear when he catches her gaze, but Levi shuffles or makes some muttering sound and then he’s sitting erect again, scared stiff and unwilling to provoke the captain any further. She rolls her eyes. “Levi won’t bite, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t get to speak on my behalf, Ral,” the man in question snaps, and then his scowly gaze is settled over Eren once more. “And he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>lose a tooth. Shitty glasses has it now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Petra frowns and tugs on Eren’s jaw. He opens his mouth easily enough. “But nothing’s missing—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It grew back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Eren’s fidgeting again, fingers drumming silently on his chair, eyes darting between them both anxiously. Petra’s brows furrow, searching Levi’s face, before turning to survey the boy in front of her once more. If he’d looked like a petrified squirrel before, he looks quite like a cornered mouse now, and she takes a cautious step back, eyes sweeping his stance and feet braced in a defensive position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Teeth don’t grow </span>
  <em>
    <span>back, </span>
  </em>
  <span>captain,” she says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This one’s teeth do, apparently.” Levi kicks off the wall to examine Eren closely. “Tch. Even his wounds are starting to heal. You probably didn’t even need to treat it—Shitty glasses stopped too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s protocol,” she supplies weakly, glancing warily over their charge. “So his Titan abilities… they manifest in his human form, too?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The revelation stuns her for a moment, and Eren seems to have reached some melting point because his nervousness seeps out of him and he deflates in his chair. Levi and Petra eye him curiously, and watch as he unfurls his hands over his lap, gazing sullenly at his fingers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They said… that I hurt Mikasa,” he mumbles, and the name is familiar to Petra. “I would never hurt Mikasa, but I did. I thought that scar on her cheek was from fighting the Titans, but she wasn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>fighting </span>
  </em>
  <span>a Titan when she got it, because she would never…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head, and the name finally registers in Petra’s mind, her expression softening at the recollection of a testimony from one of the new recruits. She’d looked adamant about defending Eren, and they had mentioned her to be a childhood friend. She’d vouched that he’d saved her life, two out of three times, but good is often overshadowed by the weight of a single mistake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Petra should know: single mistakes are often what cost soldiers their lives.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know why. I don’t know why I tried to hurt her, but…” He looks up at them, brokenly, innocently, and Petra reflects that even boys can be soldiers sometimes. “I won’t hurt anyone ever again. I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eren…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t be making promises you can’t keep,” Levi barks, and Petra nods in agreement before stepping forward and crouching so that she can look at the boy in the eye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t know what you’re capable of,” she says gently. “We don’t know what’s going to happen—if you’re going to be our ally or our enemy. But you were placed in our custody, and you are, despite everything, still just a boy, so we’re going to be sticking together and acting like a team, all right? If you don’t want to hurt anyone, then you’re going to behave. Follow the captain’s orders, and make good choices. You put your trust in us, and we’ll put our trust in you. Okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A meager smile manages to pull on the corners of his mouth, and he seems to relax, releasing a breath he’d been holding, she felt, for quite some time. “I p—” he cuts himself off, staring at Petra lengthily, though it’s Levi who stares right back. There’s a kindness to Petra that seems so warm, so familiar, that it quells whatever sort of fear he’s had for the gelid captain before then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His gaze is clear as glass when he continues, with surety this time. “I will.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He seems well-disciplined,” Petra comments. She offers Levi a cup of tea, and then she’s sitting opposite him by the desk, her hands folded in her lap. “Naïve, well-meaning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s also an impulsive brat who can’t keep his mouth shut.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Like I said.” Petra brightens. Levi arches a brow at her, though the steam from the cup fogs over his eyes and mitigates the derisive look. “He’s quick to listen too, and doesn’t complain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that what you think?” He lazily scrawls over a piece of parchment with his pen. Petra tries to pry but his penmanship is unreadable when it’s upside down. “You looked hesitant for a moment, there. Was all that talk about him just being a boy meant to convince me or convince yourself?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You,” she answers too quickly, and then she colors in embarrassment. “Me?” She twiddles her thumbs. “Maybe both?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She blinks. “What do you mean, why? I just—” She purses her mouth when he casts her a simmering glare, and she tucks her hair behind her ear, reaches for a parchment filled with ink scratches to distract herself by folding its corners. “We need to consider things from fresh perspectives, right?” she continues, slowly this time. Levi’s eyes follow the trail of her fingers as she makes triangles out of squares, her nail dragging along the crease of a fold to straighten it out, a trick he’d taught her some time ago. “This is just my attempt to consider a new perspective, that’s all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You suck at lying.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her hand smacks the table lightly, and she frowns, offended. “No I’m not, that’s the truth!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Keep telling yourself that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m serious!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hurls the half-finished paper fish in his direction. It flutters just over the curve of his nose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been attacked,” Levi drawls, undeterred.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Serves you right!” she grits out, crossing her arms. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sentiment gives him pause, and he leans back on his chair, lifting a leg over his knee in contemplation. She still looks upset, the bottom of her lip curved out slightly, and her cheeks dusted with red. Her chest is heaving, as though collecting enough breath to berate him should he volley another argument, and he is ultimately reminded that Petra is never one to back down from a fight, even if it’s with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The notion of it impresses him greatly, but he is never one to pay a compliment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you wouldn’t,” he acquiesces after a beat. “You’d lie to yourself, though.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t seem to know how to reply to that, so he presses on, “What do you think, really? And don’t lie, because you suck at lying.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s as polite as a request she’ll ever get from him, so she huffs, and examines her feelings. He seems quite content to leave her in silent contemplation, and when he places the final word on his report he looks past the candlelight to see that her face has dimmed and her features have paled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” she murmurs, after some time. She looks at him, shrugging, and then she seems to glow, her amber eyes marked with stark determination. “I’ll find out, though, I’m sure I will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If that’s what you want,” he replies, “Then stop feeding yourself lies. That’s just a waste of time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And time is never wasted with you, is it?” she adds, and when he glances up to see her smile some part of him decides to reflect it over his own face. He feels his features soften, feels his heart grow warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go to bed,” he orders, to dispel the feeling. She chucks another paper fish at him.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. taking sides.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <i>(nobody makes hot chocolate like Petra)</i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You’re… humming,” Levi says, in lieu of a morning greeting. He sounds shocked enough for Petra to turn around and offer him a smile. A merry tune accompanies the welcoming curve of her mouth as she does so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He settles himself on a chair, glancing at her warily, as though waiting for her to grow a pair of horns while she’s at it. She pouts at his expression, waving a spoon in the air as she spins to regard him with mild affront. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could stand to look a little less judgemental,” she huffs, “I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>off-key.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve never heard the song before, so I can’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell </span>
  </em>
  <span>if you’re off-key.” He shrugs nonchalantly, leaning against the table and crossing his legs. She notices it when he runs a finger over the surface, and grins smugly when he doesn’t offer any comment about lamentable cleanliness. She’s not an early-bird for nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nobody told you to stop, Ral.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She blinks at him for a long moment, and then she’s biting back a laugh. “Nobody told me to continue either, Captain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sing,” Levi says. The word is foreign on his tongue, but the way Petra smiles at him is familiar. “That’s an order.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s a second of silence before she resumes humming, and Levi is observant enough to note that her cheeks have bloomed red, no matter how hard she tries to hide it with her hair. The early morning sun filters in through the window and she seems to glow in it, the red of her cheeks clearer when she tilts her head, and beyond the luxurious shine of her copper locks he can make out the happiness staining her face when she sings. She looks almost beautiful this way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Almost, because she refuses to face him fully. Her embarrassment at allowing him to see her blush almost makes him smile, but she’ll never know, </span>
  <em>
    <span>because she refuses to face him fully.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead, she’s bustling around the small kitchen as she usually does in the morning: setting a pot of milk over the stove, grabbing five cups (now six, with Eren in their custody) from the cupboard, and filling the kettle with—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm. You’re not brewing coffee today,” he says aloud, and she understands the hidden question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No coffee for little boys,” she answers, “It’ll ruin his health.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can ruin the boy’s health for all I care,” he grouses, and then he’s crossing his arms derisively. “And he’s not little at all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought it would be a good opportunity as any to bring out the chocolates I managed to get last month,” Petra defends further. “Besides, you seem to have scared the boy enough to get him quivering every time he sees you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not my fault he can’t take a kick to the face,” he argues, “And he doesn’t hate me, at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How do you know he doesn’t hate you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I asked.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The answer gets her to laugh this time, unabashed and unembarrassed, and Levi’s brows crease in the wake of her reaction, a pensive scowl on his face. His expression only serves to fuel her entertainment, however, so much so that her cheeks are now in full color, glowing pink beneath the sunlight, and now that she’s stopped hiding from him—now that she’s in full view—she looks absolutely gorgeous. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinks in silent surprise over the transformation, and he observes, transfixed, as her lashes flutter against her cheeks; as her hair bounces playfully over her shoulders; as her mouth parts in merriment, open and wide, the sound of her voice mellifluous. To him she’s irrefutably dazzling, even with a slightly rumpled uniform, even when her laughter turns into soundless air; so dazzling, in fact, that he feels it necessary to keep her still before she accidentally bangs her head on the kettle or something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He grabs her by the wrist, corners her by the kitchen counter, and she tries to muffle her laughter, tries to keep herself from bursting at the seams instead when she realizes his proximity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pull yourself together, Ral,” he says, and despite the sternness of his tone she can almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>his amusement, “It’s not that funny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes it is!” she counters, shaking her head. A tender smile graces her face and softens her features, her copper bangs falling over her eyes when she hangs her head in slight embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know—I don’t know what’s come over me, but I haven’t laughed like that in a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really?” The revelation leaves him a little stunned, because Petra has always been the cheeriest out of the entire group, always ready with a quick quip and tender assurance. She’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>Petra </span>
  </em>
  <span>that way, with her easy smiles and her kind amber eyes, and he wonders why this god-forsaken world has seen it fit to steal all the reasons for her to laugh as she has just now, so loudly, so unabashedly, so </span>
  <em>
    <span>freely.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“What made you laugh, then?” he asks, because he wants to know.</span>
</p><p><span>“You </span><em><span>asked,” </span></em><span>is her honest reply.</span> <span>“You never ask, Captain.”</span></p><p>
  <span>“Oh?” His eyes gleam, and Petra’s never seen his eyes gleam before. They’ve always been concrete slates, as jagged and cold as the man himself, sometimes piercing, sometimes avoidant. There are times when those eyes are focused on something to the side, something she cannot see, and there are times when those eyes are looking straight at her, rendering her so transparent—so ripe—before him that she cannot fathom anything else but clear devotion. “You’re right; I </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>ask. You of all people wouldn’t mind, would you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mind what?” she asks, clueless, breathless, and maybe she’s gasping for air because she lost it all to laughter. Maybe it’s because of something else entirely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I didn’t ask.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She stops trying to regain her breath at the notion, her eyes widening a fraction when she feels his fingers grazing the strands of her hair, tucking stray bangs behind her ear. His touch lingers for a moment, and so does his gaze, but before she can even wonder about what he sees he’s pulling away and examining what’s in her kettle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should trim your hair,” is all he says, when she turns to look at him inquisitively. “I’ll personally see to it that it’s cut, so make sure the rest of your morning is free.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns to level her with an unimpressed stare. “I thought you were meticulous about keeping your hair trimmed, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Either you tie it up or you’re going bald, take your pick.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey!” She lifts a hand up to finger her hair defensively, turning away from him with a pout. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She has half a mind to rebuke him then, but she catches sight of the quirk to his mouth and feels her own hang agape with blatant shock. His eyes glide to the side and he leans forward, cupping her chin between his thumb and index finger. She feels her heart flutter at the heat of his touch, but he doesn’t seem affected at all by their closeness, opting instead to say, “Close your mouth, it’s unhygienic.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t help it!” she blurts out. “You’re a mean tease.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t teasing you at all, Petra.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The use of her given name causes her to color for what might be the third time that morning. “You’re doing it again!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Doing what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Teasing me!” She crosses her arms in mock indignation, and with one quick motion she has him blocked from the stove, her entire body serving as a barrier between him and the kettle. He blinks in mild surprise, but he steps back effortlessly anyway, as though he’d been prepared for her to make such a move. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She lifts her chin and says, point-blank, “No hot chocolate for you this morning, Captain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He blinks astutely at her, and before she can anticipate what he’ll do next he’s snatching the kettle from the stove. He’s spinning away as she yelps in surprise. “If there’s none for me, then there’ll be none for anyone else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She flicks the stove off with a huff. “I didn’t think you had a penchant for hot chocolate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I do,” he says, grabbing his own mug from where she’d prepared it on the counter. “But only if you make it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her face will remain perpetually red today, it seems. He appraises her once more, eyes memorizing the shade of her cheeks, and he nods once as though he’s just completed a mission.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She opens her mouth to ask him just </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’s so smug about, but then the door to the kitchen is bursting open and the other men file in, a dejected-looking Eren trailing behind Oluo, who looks just as arrogant today as he does most days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He didn’t cause any problems all night, Captain,” Gunther informs, gesturing at Eren, who’s trying discreetly to rub the sleep from his eyes. Normally, soldiers are used to waking up early, but Petra supposes that it must have been a terrible night sleeping in the basement, which is why she’d gotten up early to make something sweet instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good.” Levi nods. He hands the kettle back to Petra while lifting his own mug to his mouth before she can make good on her threat to ban him from drinking it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shakes her head at him, endeared nevertheless, and she tries not to let her face turn red again when their fingers brush and he sends her what might be the makings of an amused smile behind the rim of his cup. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least the others have yet to notice, she thinks to herself, tucking her hair behind her ears and pouring hot chocolate into everyone’s mug. She adds a little bit of honey into Eren’s share, hoping it might serve as an added boost of comfort. When she hands him his mug she pats him lightly on the head and sends him a gentle smile when he looks up at her in shock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He returns the gesture, though his own grin is small and wobbly, and she frowns when she notices he only takes a sip of his after everyone is already halfway through their drinks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One sip seems to be enough for him, however, because his eyes widen, the green of his irises glistening with barely contained happiness, and he gulps down the rest of his drink faster than anyone else at the table. Levi raises a brow at his eagerness, but thankfully doesn’t comment on it, and when he sets the cup down Petra is already at his side, raising the kettle with that smile of hers and a sweetly asked, “Want another cup?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To her surprise both Eren and Levi shove their mugs in her direction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>— </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think he likes me,” Petra says later, looking very much accomplished. Beside her Levi scoffs, and as they ride through the forest roads towards the old Survey Corps base they’ve been reassigned to, she thinks she’s happy to keep an eye on Eren, who rides in front of her because he’d been more comfortable with the idea of her behind him rather than Levi himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Better you than me, maybe,” he concedes, and his point proves itself when Eren looks back only to turn away when he notices Levi’s signature scowly gaze. “Just don’t forget that we’re keeping an eye on him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I won’t,” Petra says, and then she’s beaming at him. “I have to protect the person who loves what I brew so much, after all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s her subtle attempt to tease him in recompense for earlier, but as they ride forward, Levi thinks she’s got the sentiment a little backwards.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. observational learning.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <i>(petra’s the breadwinner of the family)</i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Twenty coins says Oluo trips over himself today!” Eld yells as they sail across the canopy. The subject of the taunt flips him off midair, and Eld only cackles evilly at the reaction.</p><p>“We’re supposed to be training, guys,” Gunther reminds exasperatedly, though nobody seems to register his words.</p><p>“Thirty!” Petra counter-proposes with a cheeky grin, and it’s probably a bad bet, but the exhilaration that courses through her bones as they whip through the air like they’re flying has thrown away any semblance of intelligent choice out the window—at least, intelligent choice with regard to Oluo, who isn’t very bright to begin with either, and therefore shouldn’t be regarded with sensibility.</p><p>“You’re on, Pet!” Eld accepts her challenge easily enough, Oluo cursing indignantly behind them. “Want to throw latrine duty in there, too?”</p><p>“As if!” She’s participating in a stupid bet, but god forbid she sacrifice her dignity. “You’re not getting off cleaning the toilets that easily, bastard!”</p><p>Eld laughs. </p><p>“Feisty,” he comments, before Gunther unsheathes his blade and points it northwest. </p><p>“Titan ahead, 15-meters!” All accounts of hilarity dissolve quickly at the prospect, and Petra hangs back for a moment so that Oluo can catch up to her. They shoot off in pairs, Eld and Gunther flying to the right and Oluo and Petra coursing off to the left, deploying a formation they’ve each gotten used to after months of working together.</p><p>It’s a wooden thug: no match for Squad Levi when the second pair slices it off its legs and the first finishes the job.</p><p>Eld spots two more, swinging around from where they’d been camouflaged before. “Petra, you guys get the left one!”</p><p>“On it!” She’s used to assisting Oluo—who’s always eager to go in for a solo kill every time he gets—and is the only reason their pair’s work qualifies as “teamwork” in the end, when Oluo takes liberty of slicing its makeshift neck the moment Petra immobilizes the wooden Titan.</p><p>They regroup in less than a minute and continue through the forest. Instinct tells Petra they’ve almost finished the course; she grins, thinking of the less than impressed face that’ll be waiting for them with an onslaught of harsh criticism the moment they set foot on the ground again.</p><p>“Bet’s still on?” Eld asks cheekily, flipping through the air to face Petra.</p><p>“Watch it!” Oluo snaps, “Or else <em> you’ll </em> be the one tripping on your face!”</p><p>“Fat chance, Bozado. Hey, Pet, I’m betting you forty.”</p><p>“More money for me,” Petra cheers.</p><p>“Hey, how is it a bet when you’re both betting on the same thing, anyway?” Gunther asks with a stringent huff. “I’ll bet you fifty if you keep quiet and focus on the job.”</p><p>“That’s not how bets work old man!” Eld taunts, spinning midair after catching sight of another round of titans. “Oluo, Pet, to the right this time.”</p><p>“Got it!” Once again, Petra maneuvers through the air to give Oluo room to get another kill for himself. It’s better to stay out of the way than get herself tangled in his quest for glory, anyway. Besides, Oluo would get his wires crossed if she ever dared take a kill from him, that she learned the hard way back when they were cadets.</p><p>Still, she wasn’t top five in her class for nothing, and it’s purely by chance that she spins through the air faster than Oluo can cut through it, and her blades pierce fake flesh, her cut quick and deep enough to warrant a kill.</p><p>“Upping your kill count today, Petra?” Oluo howls, his voice clipped at the end like he realized too late that he was whining. “I’ll have you know it’ll take more than that for you to rise as worthy wife material.”</p><p>“Bite your tongue and die, asshole!” she yells back, because she earned that pseudo-kill fair and square.</p><p>They regroup one last time and then they’re bursting through the edge of the forest training grounds, landing one by one in a line before their captain, who stares directly at Eld, Gunther, and Petra, who sticks her foot out indiscreetly so that Levi is eventually staring down at Oluo, who manages to botch up his landing the way he botches up his tongue when he talks on horseback.</p><p>“Get up, Bozado,” Levi deadpans, looking displeased.</p><p>“Forty,” Petra mouths at Eld, while the captain isn’t looking. They both bite back a round of snickers at Oluo’s predicament, though she straightens immediately when she feels Levi’s gaze snap towards her. </p><p>“Right. If we’re done acting childish,” Levi preludes.</p><p>“Yes, sir,” they chorus, though as Oluo scrambles up to his feet his response sounds more like, “Yes—er.” </p><p>Petra thinks he might trip again with the way Levi looks at him then. It’s getting harder to rein in her amusement, and it must show, because she catches Eren’s wide-eyed gaze from his spot behind the captain. She quirks her lip up slightly, like she’s sharing a secret with him, though her face is impassive once more when she realizes that Levi’s staring.</p><p>“What’s so funny, Ral?”</p><p>“Oluo, sir,” she says, because it’s better than saying ‘nothing’. The man in question shoots her a scathing glare before straightening up again.</p><p>Levi would probably roll his eyes at her—that, or he’d roll her up in the dirt for not acting serious during training—and she promises to herself that she’ll save her laughter for later, when they’re dismissed.</p><p>Thankfully, Levi isn’t one to dwell on stupidity, and soon he’s dressing them down, pointing out all of their flaws and how to do things better next time—“No bets while in the air, Gin, unless twenty coins is worth getting your head chopped off by a Titan.”—and then they’re released to clean themselves up from the sweat and grime of training. </p><p>Petra’s quick to flock to Eren’s side in order to escape Levi’s ire, though she should have probably known better than that, because her attempt is ultimately for naught.</p><p>He catches her by the sleeve.</p><p>“Dirty cheat,” he says accusingly, voice low, but she catches a faint sense of smugness behind that tone anyway, like he’s almost… proud. Which is weird, considering he’d just berated her for poor form a minute ago. “You owe me half.”</p><p>Realization dawns on her face at the last comment, and she laughs then, falling into the comfortable rhythm of talking with <em> Levi, </em>and not her superior. “You noticed that?”</p><p>“Like you were subtle to begin with,” he scoffs. “How much did you bet Eld, forty?”</p><p>“Forty,” she says. “But no way am I sharing it with you.”</p><p>“One, you cheated,” he points out, “And two, I let you get away with it.”</p><p>“What do you want twenty coins for?”</p><p>“A new rag.”  </p><p>“Ha!” She pulls her arm from his grip easily enough. “If you want the money so bad, then you’ve gotta bet on it yourself, Captain.”</p><p>He glowers at her, but before he can get another word in, she’s grabbing Eren by the jacket and pulling them both into a run.</p><p>“Petra!?” Eren yelps, stumbling along behind her, but her hold on him is tight and she’s got enough strength in her to tow him along like he’s a rag doll. “Please don’t make me an accomplice, he’s going to <em> murder </em>me.”</p><p>“No he won’t,” Petra says, but it lacks assurance and Eren pales considerably, whining out her name. “Oh Eren, don’t look so dejected.”</p><p>“Easy for you to say!” he grumbles as they slow to a stop, hiding behind a building. “He’s giving us latrine duty once we get back to the castle for <em> sure.” </em></p><p>“I’ll give you ten coins,” Petra bargains.</p><p>“Ten coins for what?”</p><p>“Your trouble.”</p><p>Eren lets out a lengthy sigh which makes her laugh. “The captain can be merciless but not <em> that </em>merciless, Eren.”</p><p>“I think we have very different definitions of ‘merciless’,” Eren laments, which only makes her laugh harder. He watches her catch her breath, eyeing the redness of her cheeks curiously. “How do you… do that?” he eventually finds the courage to ask.</p><p>“Do what?”</p><p>“Laugh. In front of—<em>because </em>of—someone like Levi.” Eren seems to give an involuntary shudder at the name. Petra grins at him lopsidedly. “But I guess I can see why. You’re so… different. So cheerful. And he’s just… not. So I guess he can’t really do anything about it.”</p><p>“Having opposite traits is a good thing,” Petra notes wisely. “That way you make up for each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s necessary to being part of a team, you know. Making sure that your skills complement each others’. It took a while for each of us to learn how to work with each other, especially with such an unsociable captain like Levi, but we did learn how to maximize our skills sets within the group, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”</p><p>“I noticed,” Eren huffs. “How could I not? That was my job—to watch and learn.”</p><p>“And what did you learn?”</p><p>“That you’re a dirty cheat.”</p><p>Petra brightens up, and pats his shoulder appreciatively. “That’s the spirit!” She tilts her head, observing him as he stares at her incredulously in the wake of her attitude, and then a knowing smile spreads across her face. “You’ve got questions.”</p><p>“No I—” he cuts off at the look on her face and deflates. “Well, yeah. Of course I do. You guys are elites, and I should learn from you while I’m here. The captain was right about that, at least.”</p><p>“Have you tried working in a team before?” Petra asks, admittedly curious. “You fought with that Mikasa girl on the front lines of Trost, didn’t you?”</p><p>“Well… yeah.” A shadow crosses his face then, the sight of which alarms Petra slightly. “But Mikasa doesn’t need me to fight with her. She can handle herself just fine.”</p><p>“Hm?” She notices a hint of bitterness to his tone, and doesn’t miss the way his eyebrows furrow either, like he’s disappointed at himself for being so weak. It’s an expression she recognizes all too well; it’s what she used to see, after all, back when she was still a trainee and she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She’s admittedly weaker than the men on her team: her short stature and dainty figure aren’t exactly vessels of power, but her fragile appearance is what got her to the top. </p><p>Nobody expects a rose to unleash its thorns.</p><p>“Let me guess,” she says, “Mikasa’s slain more titans than you probably ever will in your lifetime, and between the both of you, she’s the stronger one, hence she’s the one who ends up protecting you.”</p><p>Eren’s eyes widen at the observation, much like a child whose hand has just been caught in the cookie jar. “Well, that’s, I—” he stutters, his wounded pride preventing him from speaking any further on the matter, and Petra nods purposefully.</p><p>“Do you know why I have more assists than solo kills, Eren?”</p><p>“No,” he murmurs, eyeing her wearily.</p><p>She shrugs. “I’m not the kind of soldier who can just swoop in and kill titans left and right, you know. I have my limits, and I know what they are. Captain Levi has his limits too, and he’s just as aware of them as I am. He may seem like the strongest man in the world, and it’s certainly easy to put faith in that… but the downside of being so strong is that you’ve got no one to watch your back when you need it most.”</p><p>“The captain doesn’t need anyone to watch his back though,” Eren points out, sounding resolute. “He’s so…”</p><p>“Powerful?” Petra supplies, leveling an amused smile at him. Eren bristles at the sight of it, feeling like he’s missing the point. “Certainly. He’s not called Humanity’s Strongest for nothing, but even he needs someone to watch his back sometimes. We’re not going to win this war by relying on one man. That’s why I go into battle now; I want to make sure that the people I care about can make it back to the walls safely.”</p><p>“Is that why you’re always acting as reinforcement to the captain?” Eren ventures, and he frowns when Petra makes an affirmative noise. “Don’t you get tired of it? Of being the weaker one?”</p><p>“Who said I was weaker because I focus on assists?” she scolds, hands flying to her hips. “I’ll have you know that I’ve saved those boys’, <em> and </em> the captain’s, butts countless times over and I’ll happily continue doing so. To support strong people, you have to be a strong pillar yourself, or else you’ll be useless. And uselessness—<em>t</em><em>hat’s </em>what makes you weak.”</p><p>“But…!” Eren splutters, “Don’t you want to learn how to fight titans yourself? Learn to be as strong as Captain Levi, now that you’ve been given the best chance to learn from him?”</p><p>“I don’t need to be like Captain,” Petra says, and the surety in her tone serves to fluster Eren further. “He doesn’t need me to be some Titan-killing machine, and frankly, that’s not the kind of soldier I want to be either. I want to watch his back, because everyone thinks he’s so strong that he doesn’t need protection. I don’t see it that way.”</p><p>“Protect Captain Levi?” Eren echoes, clearly distraught by the idea.</p><p>“Men.” Petra rolls her eyes, and tries to reword her argument so that he may see some sense. “Don’t you want to protect your friend Mikasa while she’s risking her life on the battlefield? Or is she just so strong that the thought never occurred to you?”</p><p>A wrinkle of conflict crosses Eren’s face then, and Petra humphs in triumph. “See? You never thought about it that way, did you? That it’s <em> you </em>who should be protecting Mikasa because you can, and not the other way around. I know everyone’s fighting to keep you safe since you’re humanity’s hope, but you should return the favor too. At least, for the people you care about. That’s the greatest strength a person can have.”</p><p>Eren grumbles something like “You sound like my mom” under his breath, and Petra’s brows crease, because she doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.</p><p>“Oi, brat.”</p><p>Eren straightens immediately at the abrasive voice, and despite herself Petra squeaks.</p><p>Levi stops in front of them, his arms crossed like he’s ready to have them on their knees scrubbing toilets until daybreak, but it only takes another moment of fear for him to break the silence and say, “Learn some humility before your over-confidence comes back to bite you in the ass.”</p><p>“You were listening!?” Petra cries, hands in the air.</p><p>“And you,” he says, striding forward and pulling her away. “I’m not done with you.”</p><p>“Petra!” Eren stands around dumbly, unsure of what to do now that his only safety-net in the group is being dragged to the gallows.</p><p>“See you later Eren!” She waves, and it only stumps Eren further when she looks a little more chipper than he thinks she ought to be. “You can regroup with the guys and we’ll meet in the dining hall for supper at six, okay?”</p><p>“Um… okay.” His voice is faint.</p><p>When they’re relatively alone, Levi releases her from his grasp so he can go back to scowling with his arms crossed. She merely stares at him, flushed with both exertion and amusement, waiting for him to say something because she knows better than anyone else that he won’t be subjecting her to latrine duty anytime soon.</p><p>Eventually he rolls his eyes and holds his palm out expectantly.</p><p>“You owe me twenty coins for talking shit behind my back.”</p>
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